To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.

He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.

Every communist must grasp the truth: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.

I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.

Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.

The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.

There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

The affairs of the world are no more than so much trickery, and a man who toils for money or honor or whatever else in deference to the wishes of others, rather than because his own desire or needs lead him to do so, will always be a fool.

In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.